Hagelin's late winner pushes Pens over 'Canes
PITTSBURGH -- Carl Hagelin scored the go-ahead goal with 4:15 remaining to finish another Pittsburgh third-period rally, and the Penguins extended the best December surge in their history with a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.
Chris Kunitz scored the tying goal early in the third against goalie Cam Ward, and Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 19 shots he faced after replacing an apparently ill Matt Murray (25 saves) at the start of the period. Fleury is 5-0-1 in his last six decisions.
There were no penalties called -- the first such game in the NHL this season and the only the second penalty-free game in Penguins history. The only other such game was a 2-1 Penguins victory at St. Louis on March 22, 1969.
The Penguins trailed 1-0 after one period and 2-1 after two, but they are 9-4-1 when trailing after the first and 7-7-1 when trailing after two.
Sidney Crosby opened up the Penguins scoring by tying it at 1 in the first minute of the second period with his 26th goal in 31 games and his fifth in as many games. He also scored Tuesday as the Penguins won 5-2 at New Jersey.
The Penguins are 11-1-2 in December with one more game remaining Saturday night, against Montreal.
Hagelin won it with his second goal in as many nights and fifth of the season. Patric Hornqvist blocked a shot in the defensive end to start an up-ice rush then, at the other end, dangled the puck on his stick -- freezing Ward -- only to slide it to Hagelin in the right circle for a one-timer.
Kunitz's goal 1:59 into the third was his first in 16 games and third of the season.
The Hurricanes, playing their first game after the holiday break while the Penguins were involved in their second in as many nights, looked to have more jump at the start and took a 1-0 lead in the first period on Elias Lindholm's third goal of the season.
Lindholm took Noah Hanifin's centering pass and wristed a shot through defenseman Trevor Daley and past Murray, who sat out the previous two games as Fleury twice beat New Jersey. Defenseman Ryan Murphy picked up the second assist in his first game since Nov. 10.
After Crosby scored only 26 seconds into the second period, the Hurricanes seized the momentum back later in the period. Teuvo Teravainen carried the puck to the net past Daley, only to be stopped by Murray, but Lee Stempniak swatted in the rebound for his seventh goal, at 12:32.
Crosby beat Cam Ward on a one-timer of Justin Schultz's pass.
NOTES: Both teams were without injured defensemen. Penguins D Brian Dumoulin is out four to six weeks with a broken jaw that occurred when he was struck with a puck during the third period Tuesday night in New Jersey. The Hurricanes were missing D Justin Faulk, who is on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury. ... Penguins D Olli Maatta (illness) missed a second successive game. ... By getting a goal and an assist Tuesday, Penguins C Evgeni Malkin became the ninth Russian player to total at least 800 points during his NHL career. He is fourth all-time among Penguins players, behind Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Sidney Crosby. ... Carolina scratched D Klas Dahlbeck and C Andrej Nestrasil.